Canada blocks Peru to win in four sets

MEXICO CITY, Mexico, June 11, 2014 – Canada defeated Peru in four sets (25-18, 26-24, 23-25, 25-20) in the first match of Pool A of the XIII Women’s Volleyball Pan American Cup at Juan de la Barrera Gymnasium on Wednesday.

The winners held a big margin in blocks 19-4 to go with 43 unforced errors to 28 by the losers.

Canada’s Marissa Field led all the players in the match with 18 points, including four blocks and three aces. Kyla Richey contributed 15 with a match-high six blocks while Lucille Charuk and Marie-Pier Murray-Methot each added 10 tallies.

Angela Leyva was the only Peruvian with double figures in the scores with 17 points. Maguilaura Frias and Karla Ortiz had 8 apiece in the losing effort.

“We made some errors and allowed Peru to play their game but then used our strength with the blocking to take the victory,” Canada’s captain Brittney Page said.

“The first matches of a tournament are always something special and both teams made too many errors and that was the story of the game,” Canada’s coach Arnd Ludwig stated.

“We had a very bad start and it cost us the match,” Peru’s Karla Ortiz said. “We recovered to play good volleyball but made too many mistakes.”

“You try to correct the errors at the key moments but unfortunately the lack of experience hurt us,” Peru’s Natalia Malaga said. “We need to reduce the errors because that’s the way to give points to the opponent.”